Such an apparatus is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,904 where each picking head has twelve flexible picking devices shaped as flexible fingers. The flexible fingers are affixed to the base member at a distance from the axis of rotation of the base member so that the fingers tend to flex outwards under the influence of centrifugal forces when the base member rotates. U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,309 describes another defeathering apparatus using flexible picking devices mounted on picking heads, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,879 describes a further defeathering apparatus using six flexible picking devices per picking head.
In these prior art apparatuses the flexible picking devices comprise only a single flexible picking finger per picking device. Picking devices with many picking elements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,825 where picking elements in the form of bristles, filaments or fibers are arranged in brush-like clusters and affixed to the picking device. The individual picking head can carry e.g. twelve picking elements of this type.